Breaking the medal drought
Coaches optimistic about Jamaica’s male sprinters this time around
Published:Thursday | July 14, 2022 | 12:06 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
LEGACY ATHLETICS head coach Omar Hawes and Team Jamaica’s technical leader at the World Athletics Championships, Maurice Wilson, are both cautiously optimistic about Jamaica breaking their four-year medal drought in the men’s 100m.
In another couple of day’s time, the trio of former world champion Yohan Blake, Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake will hope to bring Jamaica’s men’s sprinting back to prominence, after a barren spell dating back to London 2017.
Blake, who won his fifth national 100m title, has a season’s best of 9.85 seconds, his fastest time in a decade, while Seville has a personal best of 9.86 seconds, which he clocked last May, good for third and sixth place in the world this season respectively. Ackeem’s personal best is 9.93 ahead of his first World Championship appearance.
Hawes said that because of the consistency of the sub-10 times that have been displayed this season by them, he believed that this could be Jamaica’s best opportunity to return to the podium
“This time around it is the best chance for us to get a medal in terms of who we have progressed to get back to the top form in the men’s sprints. If there was any time that we should be able to medal, this would be the time,” Hawes told The Gleaner.
“When you look at the times and the consistency of times, then it augurs well that once the athletes are fully fit they can challenge just as anybody else. I think that this is the best (opportunity) yet.”
Multiple Olympic and World champion Usain Bolt captured Jamaica’s last major medal in the men’s 100m, earning bronze at the 2017 World Championships in London. Yohan finished sixth in the 2019 World Championship final and no Jamaican made the Olympic final last year.
FOCUS
Hawes said that while the improvements made by the athletes, in particular Yohan, are encouraging, the focus has to be to get to the final.
“It all boils down to what is being done now at the relevant camps, Titans (Yohan and Ackeem) and Racers (Seville) in terms of preparation for that particular event and if they are no injury issues at present. The times that they have been running for the last couple of weeks augurs well for them to be in the final eight. So once you get there, anything can happen,” Hawes said.
America’s Fred Kerley has the fastest time in 2022, with 9.76.
Wilson said that he was pleased to see his faith rewarded in the performances of the Jamaican men this season, but is also cautious about his expectations.
“When everybody was bashing them, I kept saying that we are going through a period. I kept on believing in the persons who would have represented us, for Example, Yohan Blake. His team has come in and done a fantastic job with him personally,” Wilson said.
“(But) what is important is the progress that we have seen these men make this season and (for them) to take it one step at a time. To go through the rounds, to get them into the final and then, whatever happens after that, we support them.”
Hawes believes that should any of the three get on the podium, it would boost the morale of the nation in terms of its men’s sprinting future.
“It should do something, not only for the psyche of the country, but also for the male sprinters who are looking to be the next set of athletes to start medalling at that level, since we have been off for sometime. I hope it goes that way where (at least) one medal is obtained by the team,” Hawes said.